_________________Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?-Epicurus

To be fair if Merc do keep failing to deliver then the blame can't be placed at Lauda's feet since the failure dates back to 2010.

The blame will fall onto Brawn. If the do have a poor 2013 then I really don't know how much longer Brawn can avoid being axed. He may be a brilliant tactitan but he's not been a brilliant Team Principle thus far.

Interesting, I assumed he would have been one of those in Hamilton's camp and would therefore be staying on for at least the initial period of Lewis's time at Mercedes.

I don't think it was Haugs voluntary decission to leave & I don't think Lewis did know about it.

My impression is the same

What was possibly worse than their bad F1 season, was that they lost the DTM title at the last races.Mercedes was miles ahead until BMW( the newcommers) did a better team work, and beat them at the final. Haug was at a responsible position at DTM For the car market DTM is more important than F1. The 3 German top car teams compete there. BMW overhauld them in the general sales, too this year. Not a good PR for Merc to lose at DTM.

_________________"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

Last edited by Haribo on Thu Dec 13, 2012 2:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I think this was not planned. And I think due to the relationship Merc had with Mclaren this is going to have an impact on Lewis. This is big.

It is big. Haug had to depart because the Mercedes board of directors expected more from the team and changes had to be made.

Code:

“There is always somebody who has to accept the overall responsibility,” said the 60-year-old, who steps down after more than two decades at the helm of the constructor’s sport operations. “We have had our successes in the past three years, of course, but not consistently enough – so a direction had to be set and a marker laid down.”

“I got together with the Board after the season and we sought an amicable solution; we found it, and the talks were as fair as they have always been in the last 22 years.”

In the last three years McLaren have had 18 wins to Mercedes' one. Lauda was hired before the decision to terminate Haug was made, so he's not his direct replacement.

What does all this imply and the consequences? The Mercedes brass are darn serious about getting wins and results, so much that they shook up their racing operation. They are not going to sit still, and that means the team is going to get even more support from the parent company.

Although Hamilton may not take any pleasure from the misfortune of another, what happened is a very good thing for him, because he's now got the entire Mercedes organization right tiddled off that they aren't winning, and intend to make that happen. If there was ever a sign that Mercedes are going to throw a lot more support and money into the team, this is it.

It appears to me that Norbert took the bullet or the team's failings but is not necessarily finished with motorsport.If Haug were to stay in a motorsport role, where would people expect him to go? Ironically Merc have traditionally taken the other teams' rejects!

Become a consultant with a Merc-supplied team i.e. McLaren? Back to a familiar setting and he knows the team inside out.Force India?Would he, dare I say it, stick on a red jacket?DTM arch rivals Audi?

"On Tuesday I was at the board meeting in Stuttgart for the first time in my new role," Lauda revealed to Welt am Sonntag newspaper."At the end of the meeting, it was an absolute surprise when Haug gave his resignation. I took my cap off to him, because he said essentially he feels responsible for the poor performance this year, and had drawn the appropriate conclusion. To be honest, there are very few managers in top positions who do such things. Personally, I'm very sorry about it. I would love to still have worked with him." - Lauda

His choice then.

Their last two seasons are Ross' fault anyway, not Haug's.

edit: If I were him, I'd stroll over to Porsche and sign up to run their new LMP1 team, which is already full of ex-F1 people, and if this year's Toyota is any indication, those people will be bringing a lot of F1 design and theory to their car.